“But—Lucas is over three hundred years old and he still seems to hate his transformations,” I argued.
“That’s because Lucas rarely lives with the pack,” Julian said. “He only just returned after living alone in Russia for the last twenty years. Enduring the transformations alone is much more difficult than when you have a pack. It’s close to unbearable when you’re alone.”
“But why?” I asked. “Why does having the pack help?”
“Because changing with a pack creates a bond,” Katie chimed in. “Like a support system. When we all change together and run in groups, it makes it easier. We stay away from the humans and hunt in the woods instead. And Rolf is always there, the voice in the back of our heads, helping us stay out of trouble.”
“So Melanie will join the pack?” I asked, mulling everything over.
“She will try,” Julian said. I sensed nerves in Julian and I wondered at the cause. As I watched him, he shifted his weight and the light caught on something shiny on the inside of his elbow. Two jagged scars, both about three inches in length and no thicker than the width of a pencil. They were identical to the ones on Lucas’s arm. His mark. Then the reason for Julian’s nervousness clicked: Melanie had to pass the initiation rites to get into the pack. The first of countless dangers she’d have to overcome once she’d changed.
“When are you going to do it?” I asked.
“Late spring. When she turns twenty-one. We will be wed here, at the mansion and then we will have the ceremony.”
“Ceremony?”
“To infect her,” Katie cut in. “We do it every six months. Anyone who wants to be infected gets bitten together.”
“Why do you have to have a ceremony?” I asked.
“We don’t have to have one,” Katie said. “But it’s fun. And it makes it easier for the runts to have company when they’re enduring the change.”
My mind focused on the word enduring. So it hurt to change ... probably tremendously. Yet another reason not to do it. As I sat pondering everything I’d heard, I could only pinpoint one true reason to be infected: Lucas. Forever.
It was a concept I could definitely fall for, but Lucas’s words still nagged at me: No relationship is strong enough to last an eternity.
As depressing as that thought was, I pressed it away because it didn’t matter. I didn’t want to become a werewolf anyway—even if it meant being with Lucas forever. I just wasn’t cut out for that kind of life.
“It’s all right,” Katie said.
I looked up. “Huh?”
“That you don’t want him to infect you. It’s all right.”
I frowned at her. “How do you—?”
“Because I can see it on your face. And it’s okay. Lucas would never want it anyway.”
Well, she was right about that much. Lucas seemed to hate letting me into the supernatural world even in general, so making me a part of it ... well, I didn’t want to be around to see the hissy fit he’d pitch at that idea.
“Lucas should be back by now,” Julian commented. “If he was only running.”
I winced up at him. I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone where Lucas had gone, but I figured these two were the exception to that rule.
“He went to look for Derek,” I admitted.
Julian nodded as if he’d expected me to say that. “Well, if anyone can find him, it’ll be Lucas. He’s the best tracker I’ve ever known. And in truth—” He cast a sidelong look at Katie and then away, ashamed. “I caught Derek’s scent last night.”
Both Katie and I gasped.
“Julian!” Katie hissed. “How could you keep that from the pack? Do you know what Rolf would do to you if he found out? Why didn’t you tell them?”
“Because they would have killed him,” Julian said calmly, but still adamant. “And I’m not sure that’s the right thing to do.”
I smiled appreciatively at Julian.
“But that doesn’t mean I won’t support killing him, if it turns out Derek is malicious,” he qualified and turned to look firmly at me. “If he’s a danger to the humans or the pack, then, I’m sorry Faith, but he’s got to go.”
I stopped myself from looking away from Julian’s fierce expression, thinking to myself that of all the realities I’d been faced with tonight, that was one I could never, ever accept.
Just as I was about to defend Derek—again—a high-pitched shrieking noise cut me off.
My cell phone was ringing. And it was Lucas.
6
NO BREATHING
I pressed my cell phone to my ear, glancing at Katie and Julian. “Hello?” I said.
“It’s me,” Lucas’s voice sounded through the receiver. He waited a beat ... a gut-wrenchingly long beat, and then said, “I found him.”
The knot in my stomach tightened. “And?”
“He’s alive. I had to, ah . . . hit him, though. He’s out of it, but he seems okay.”
“You hit him?” I gasped.
Lucas ignored me. “Tell Julian to take you to the cabin in the woods where you and Derek stayed and leave you there. I’ll be inside.”
It took a moment for me to process everything. Derek was alive, he was alive! And I was going to get to talk to him, hug him, and tell him how sorry I was about everything.
It was euphoria for an instant before I realized that none of those things were going to be possible. Derek wanted blood now. My blood. I wasn’t going to get to touch him or even get too close.
“You there?” Lucas asked. “Did you pass out?”
I snapped out of it. “Yes,” I said quickly. “I mean, no, of course not. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Thirty minutes later, Julian, Katie, and I were squashed into Julian’s black Jag. The top was down, and my face felt frozen against the arctic wind whooshing through the car as we raced up the winding mountain road. The night sky was muted; blue clouds had smudged out the moon and completely erased every silver star in the sky.
When we’re close to the cabin, Julian pulled over onto the side of the road and without even bothering to roll the top up, or even open the door, he pounced out of the car and landed lightly on the snowy ground. Katie, too, just hopped out in one graceful leap. I, on the other hand, had to use the door.
I walked shakily toward the cabin with Katie by my side. Julian entered and stood next to the door, watching something in the cabin, presumably Derek. When I was close enough, Lucas pulled me to his side and nodded for Katie to stand guard over Derek as well.
A fire crackled on the moldy hearth, warming the room and casting flickering shadows across the walls. Everything seemed exactly the same as the last time I saw it—filthy, dank, and swathed in cobwebs. Except that there was one very new addition. Derek sat calmly on the dirty couch. His chalky face was bathed in orange light from the fire, making him look almost human. He might have fooled me, but his eyes gave him away. They were so, so blue—like a winter sky. No human on earth had eyes that blue. They widened when he saw me.
“Remember what I said,” Lucas warned. “No breathing.”
Derek nodded quickly, his gaze darting from me to Lucas several times. I saw his throat move as he swallowed.
“I brought food,” Julian said, indicating a bag slung over his shoulder.
Derek perked up as Julian reached into the bag and pulled out two extremely rare steaks. He tossed them to Derek, who took a ravenous bite.
“I was so hungry,” he said with a moan. I watched a little color flow into his ivory cheeks, and I felt a weight lift.
“You like the food?” I asked.
Derek nodded, chewing. He finished the steaks and leaned back, rubbing his stomach just like he always did after a huge meal. I felt my heart lighten at the familiar gesture.
Derek scratched his chin for a second, looked around at everyone and then said, “Okay, I’ve been pretty lax about this whole deal so far, but I’ll admit: my patience is running low.” He looked dead at me. “Someone tell me what’s going on.�
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“He still doesn’t know?” I asked, staring up at Lucas.
His face scrunched up. “I thought it’d be easier for him to take coming from you.”
“Well?” Derek asked. “I’m listening.”
It felt so weird saying it like this—so clinically. Maybe if I could be near him, it wouldn’t seem so cold.
“Can I sit by you?” I asked, looking at Lucas instead of Derek. “You’re all just two feet away in—in case.”
Lucas didn’t look happy about it, but shrugged and dropped my hand.
I sat down on the couch beside Derek. He still seemed calm, but his gaze was expectant. I could feel every eye in the room on us.
“Derek,” I said, trying to sound more confident than I was. “I don’t know ... I don’t know where to start, really. This is going to sound crazy. I’ll just say that first.” I paused to inhale deeply and then said slowly. “You’ve been infected. On the last full moon, you were bitten by a vampire and fed his blood, right after that you were bitten by a werewolf. You passed out for three weeks and woke up last night.”
The word dumbstruck didn’t even begin to describe Derek’s face. It was dumbstruck times a million. Then, amazingly, he began to chuckle. I winced at the sight of his teeth. They were blindingly white and the incisors were elongated just enough so that they didn’t look quite human.
“This is a joke, right?” he asked. “You all are playing a joke.”
I shook my head.
“So what?” Derek said. “I’m supposed to believe in vampires and werewolves now? Is that it?” He laughed again. “Come on, Faith. I’m not the smartest guy in the world, but I’m not an idiot either. I know that stuff is fake.”
“It’s not fake,” I said evenly. “You spent last night as a wolf, didn’t you? How else do you explain that?”
Derek stopped laughing and his forehead wrinkled up like white satin sheets. “I was expecting you to tell me I’m crazy.”
“You’re not crazy. You saw Lucas change, right? And you heal quickly, run faster, the sun . . .” Something caught in my throat at that and I started again. “The sun hurts you. All of that is new. It’s all because you’re a . . . a crossbreed between a werewolf and a vampire. A hybrid.”
“That’s impossible,” Derek said. He looked around the room for confirmation, but found only the steely gazes of three werewolves. “It’s impossible, isn’t it?” He was begging me, pleading for me to say it was fake, that this was all some evil joke—some horrid nightmare.
But it wasn’t. It was so very real.
“I’m so sorry, Derek. I know how scared you must be.” I reached out to grab his hand, and all three werewolves started forward, warning looks on their faces. I stopped and returned my hand to my lap. Yeah, touching was probably not smart.
Derek began to nod his head like he was forcing the information inside his brain. “I guess I should have figured it out, huh?” he muttered. “It’s pretty obvious once you hear it out loud. Turning into a wolf, the sun.” He faced me. “The way you smell.”
I gulped and stood up slowly. He had a funny look in his eye all of a sudden. I crossed the room and melted into Lucas’s side.
“So what does this mean?” Derek asked. “I’m a hybrid ... thing. What does that mean?”
“Means you got a lot of work ahead of you,” Lucas said. “We gotta figure out exactly what you are, what you’re capable of. If you turn out to be a dangerous psycho-mutant, then we gotta figure out some way to keep you away from the pack.”
“The pack?” Derek asked.
“Our pack,” Lucas said, gesturing to Katie and Julian. “Our family. The pack master is convinced that you’re a monstrosity—that you’re gonna be the end of everything. The only thing that’ll save you is if you can control yourself. And fast.”
“I feel controlled,” Derek said. “I feel fine. Great even. Still kinda hungry, but that’s easily fixed.”
Lucas’s hand tightened around my waist, heat flowing. “You don’t feel sick at all? Sick to your stomach?”
Derek shook his head. “No. Why?”
Lucas and Julian exchanged glances.
“But Faith smells like food to you?” Lucas asked.
Derek blinked and this strange, pained expression fluttered over his features. “I want her blood,” he said, as if just realizing it. “That’s why she smells so freaking amazing. That’s so gross.”
Katie giggled.
I cut her a look. Derek wanting to eat me was so not funny.
She sobered up, but remained smiling. “He seems fine, you guys,” she said. “It looks like he can eat regular food, and he hasn’t tried to kill Faith. I think we can relax.”
“Hush,” Julian said. “We’ve got to be sure. We’ve got to test him. What if he has venom?”
Katie’s eyebrows rose, and she watched Derek with renewed caution.
“Venom?” Derek asked.
“Vampires have venom on their teeth,” I said. “You might have it too.” I looked up at Lucas. “How do we tell?”
Lucas heaved a sigh and went to Derek. He held his arm out in front of Derek’s face.
“Bite me,” he said.
Katie snorted in the corner, and Julian elbowed her in the ribs.
Derek withdrew, looking utterly repulsed.
“Look,” Lucas said. “I’m not keen on you gnawing on my arm either, but if you have venom, I’ll feel it.”
“Can’t you just smell it?” I asked. I didn’t like this idea. What if Derek’s maybe-venom hurt Lucas? Or what if this sparked some sort of fight? This was a bad idea.
“I don’t smell any venom,” Lucas said, “but it might be something different than I’m used to. We have to be sure.”
“What if he infects you?” Julian asked. “You might not be immune.”
Lucas waved us off. “Just do it,” he said, putting his arm closer to Derek’s mouth. “And don’t get too excited. My blood’s not gonna taste good—I think.”
Derek made another grossed-out face and then looked pleadingly in my direction.
I threw my hands up. This seemed like the best, quickest way to find out, and I didn’t really have a choice.
Derek took hold of Lucas’s forearm and brought it to his lips. He grimaced up at Lucas again, but Lucas just motioned lazily for him to get on with it. Then he bit into Lucas’s flesh. Lucas’s face tightened, blood gushed from Derek’s mouth, and then Lucas yanked his arm away. Derek wiped his mouth on his sleeve, making a face like he’d just tasted dirt.
“Well?” Julian asked.
“It’s clear,” Lucas said as the bite mark closed, leaving a line of blood dripping down his fingers. He wiped it off on his jeans and came back to me.
“That was sick,” Derek said. “You taste like ass.”
“That’s because vampires don’t eat werewolves. Our blood’s not supposed to mix. You need human blood to take the place of yours.”
Derek didn’t look convinced. “What do you mean?”
“You’re dead. Dead people don’t have blood. It dried up when you turned. It’s why you crave human blood—it’s your life force. If you don’t drink it regularly, you’ll go crazy and probably commit suicide or walk into the sunlight or something. At least, that’s how it is for regular vampires.”
Derek’s expression was blank—he didn’t seem to have heard anything Lucas had said. “Dead?” he whispered. “Did you say I’m dead?”
“Vampires are undead,” I said as delicately as possible. What little color left in Derek’s face drained away. “But you’re not all vampire,” I said quickly. “You’ve got some werewolf in you, too.”
“No,” Derek said. “I’m dead. I know I’m dead. . . .” He began to breathe hard, which made me extremely nervous since he wasn’t supposed to be breathing. Then he gagged and ran out of the door. Lucas and Julian started after him, but the sounds of vomiting made them stop.
A moment later, my heart broke open as Derek staggered back into the
room, his face so gaunt I really believed he was dead. He collapsed onto the couch again. “Water?” he rasped, looking to Lucas.
“No. Sorry.”
Derek grimaced and nodded, swallowing hard. “I think ... I think I need to be alone for a little while. I need some time to get my head around all of this.”
Lucas nodded like he knew the feeling. “We’ll be right outside,” he warned. “Don’t take too long. We only have a few hours till daybreak, and I still gotta find someplace lightless for you to crash.” Then he paused, frowning as though just thinking of something. He stole a look at me and said slowly, “Where’d you sleep today?”
“Found a cave,” Derek croaked. “Had to fight a bear for it, but it seemed to work. I didn’t die anyway. . . . If I can die anymore.”
“You fought a bear?” I asked incredulously.
Derek shot me an uneasy glance. “Just a small one.”
“We’ll be right out there,” Lucas said again. “And I’ll find you again if you run.”
“I’m not running,” Derek said. “No place to go.”
Lucas took up my hand and began to lead me to the door, when Derek said, “Faith can stay.”
My heart skipped about ten beats, and I looked up at Lucas hopefully.
“Ah . . . I don’t think that’s smart,” Julian said.
Lucas glanced from Derek to me several times and then said to Derek, “You even think about touching her and I’ll kill you so fast, you won’t even know it happened.”
Derek’s eyes burned into Lucas so hot, I had to stop myself from taking a step back. At once, I believed he could rip my throat out in seconds.
“I’d never hurt her,” Derek swore.
“Not yet you won’t,” Lucas sneered and let go of my hand with a sharp flick of the wrist. All three werewolves exited the cabin, leaving me alone with my best friend.
7
BLOOD PACT
I stood in front of the hearth, watching Derek anxiously. His gaze swept down my body, freezing me like a winter breeze.
“Hey,” I whispered.
I didn’t know what else to say, what to do.
Blood Crave Page 5
